The flag of the Principality of Asturias, in the north of
Spain is light blue with a cross called Cruz de la Victoria (Cross of Victory) which is a jewel kept in the Cathedral at Oviedo, the capital city of the region.

Jordi Pérez, 16 Oct 1997

The Cross of Victory is a cross botonny or cross trefly, heraldically speaking, which bears the Greek letters α and ω, from Christ's "I am the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end."

The apparently odd position of the cross seems to be determined placing its center on the intersection of the horizontal medial line and a
vertical line 1/2 (of the flag's height) [ie. 1/3 of the fly] off from the hoist.

António Martins, 15 Sep 1999

Correct. The centre point of the cross is determined by the intersection of the horizontal and vertical arms of the same. The height of the
cross is 2/3 of the hoist.

Antonio Gutiérrez, 16 Sep 1999

As for the offset position of the cross, the image is correct according to Article 3.3 of the Principality of Asturias' [Flag] Act 4/1990. I seem to recall that another Article of this Act specifies that the cross shall stand in the flag's
centre when the flag has unusual proportions or is intended to be used otherwise than hoisted on a
mast.

Antonio Gutiérrez, 22 December 1999 (translated by Santiago Dotor)

On the Law nothing is said about the vertical position of the cross. Jordi Pérez's
centering of the cross [arms] intersection (instead of the cross center) might be due either to direct observation, a more detailed legal text
or image or just a hint. Any ideas about this?

António Martins, 26 Dec 1999

[As for the vertical position of the cross,] that is how it is supposed to be, according to a drawing included as an annex to the Law. The [apparent inconsistency on] two official Asturian flags is explained as follows. The Law specifies
5 types of flags that should bear the cross off-centered:

According to the model drawing in the Law, all the cross' arms should be narrower in the centre than in the extremities,
and the bottom ending is different
from the other three.

Jorge Candeias, 30 Dec 1999

The newest Pantone books I've seen don't include the Pantone 829 color of the flag of Asturias. But while searching for the elusive color, I
found a link to a PDF titled Armas Y Blasón de la villa de Figueras ("Arms
& Blazon of the Town of Figueras," with some conversion info for Pantone 829.

On the last page of the PDF, there's a chart breaking down the "Enamels of the Shield of Figueras" (not 100% sure of translation of 1st
word) including RGB, HEX, HSB, CMYK, Pantone and CIELAB. As it turns out, the Pantone 829 is a bit deeper than most images I've seen on the
web, including Wikipedia as well as various flag sites. Using Adobe Illustrator CS2 and a color-calibrated monitor, the CMYK, RGB and HEX
values were nearly identical visually. The HSB value went to black so I don't feel those values are correct.

[According to the colours specified in the Flag Act,] Pantone 109 is dark yellow (CMYK:0-9-94-0, browser-safe
approximation RGB 255-204-0) and [previously] I used normal yellow [RGB 255-255-0] instead. As for Pantone 829, the prescribed shade of blue, I
confess I have a problem, as my Pantone catalogues list entries only up to 732... Is it a typo?

António Martins, 26 Dec 1999

Pantone 109 has a RGB value of 255-232-5 in Corel Draw!. This is closer to 255-255-0 than to 255-204-0, in my humble opinion. I used normal
yellow and a shade of blue taken from a photo I took in Seville in 1992 of an Asturian flag: RGB 0-102-153. I doubt that that mysterious
Pantone 829 is this shade, but that's the best I can do.

Jorge Candeias, 28 Dec 1999

I see the flag several times every day. Its use is very extended here in Asturias. After several tests with family and friends, we think RGB
0-102-255 is the closest BSP blue colour. It is not exactly the right colour, as Pantone 829 is very particular.

The Principality's flag for outdoor use bears the Victory Cross offset towards the hoist. The flags for indoor and
table use bear the cross in the middle. The ceremony flag bears the cross in the middle decorated with precious
stones, but having these outlined in black and white, with no colours.

I cannot say anything about the jewelry details or whether they are or not correct for a ceremonial flag according to the Law, but the actual letter design used on this flag is wrong. These glyphs are Erse style (Old Irish) upper case 'a' and lower case 'w', instead of those prescribed by Law, classical Greek letters upper case α and lower case ω. This was made as an obvious adaptation of the flag in order to give it a Celtic flavour. Erse (sometimes erroneously called Uncial) was used in Ireland only for writing Irish until the 1970s and it is a variant of the Latin script, with few connections to previous local writing systems, such as Ogham or runes. Naturally, the Northern Spanish claim for celticness dates from a much earlier period, when neither Erse nor Latin script could be even dreamt about.

A variation of the flag of Asturias with plenty of detail within the Cross of Victory was illustrated by a photo in the Público
newspaper of January 12, 2007. The gems of the cross must be coloured (see image in colour here). The number, sizes and colours of the gems seems not to be fixed, not
either the placement of the cross in this ceremonial flag, centered or towards the hoist.

These are the flag related articles of the Principality of Asturias [Flag] Act 4/1990 [see translation below, and the full text in Spanish
in this and this two scans of the Boletín Oficial del
Estado]:

Ley 4/1990, de 19 de diciembre (BOPAP nº 6, de 9 de enero de 1991. BOE nº 32, de 6 de febrero de 1991).
Bandera del Principado de Asturias.

Act 4/1990, December 19th 1991 (published in the Boletín Oficial del Principado de Asturias no.6, January 9th 1991 and in the
Boletín Oficial del Estado no.32, February 6th 1991).
Flag of the Principality of Asturias.

1st Article:
1. The flag of the Principality of Asturias is rectangular, with a yellow Victory Cross on a blue field.
2. From the dexter and sinister arms of the Cross shall hang a capital letter alpha and a small letter omega. (...)

3rd Article:
1. The flag of the Principality of Asturias shall have a length equal to three halves its width [ie. hoist] (annex 1).
2. The Victory Cross shall have a height of two thirds the flag's width (annex 2).
3. The Cross' [vertical] axis shall stand at a distance from the hoist of half the flag's width (annex 3).
4. The flag of the Principality of Asturias, shall have a ceremony or highest respect version, manufactured in silk taffeta with the Victory
Cross in gold, decorated with precious stones in their proper colour and the letters alpha and omega also in gold. (...)

Additional Provisions: (...)

2nd. (...)
2. (...) flags not intended for hoisting may be used in different proportions; in which case, the Cross shall be placed in the centre of the flag (annex 4). (...)

5th.
1. The colours of the flag of the Principality of Asturias specified in the International CIELAB System shall
be:

2. The colours of the flag of the Principality of Asturias specified in the Pantone system shall be: blue Pantone 829, yellow Pantone
109.

Santiago Dotor, 23 Dec 1999

What the Law says about the cross is, "Art. 2 – The Cross of Victory and the blue background of the flag will be identical to those
established for the shield of the Principality of Asturias in the Law of the Principality 2/1984 of 27 April." So, to know more about the
cross we would have to check this Asturian Law 2/1984.

Jorge Candeias, 29 Dec 1999

This webpage gives access to several
legislative texts (including graphic annexes) regarding official symbols of the Principality of Asturias, including:

Self-government 10 October 1978. Given in Petra Sancta code; it is not clear whether this flag was merely a proposal. It is a celestial blue flag with a yellow cross patonce in the centre; ratio is 2:3.

The Diputación Provincial [provincial council] was an administrative body which dissappeared in the early 1980s in those Autonomous Communities which comprise only one province. Note that although the administrative body is now the Autonomous Community, the province still exists.

Antonio Gutiérrez, 18 Nov 1999

Asturias (former province of Oviedo): the Diputación Provincial (provincial government) never adopted a flag but the president of the Diputación adopted a flag that was used by the provincial government [ie. by the Diputación].
This was light (sky) blue with the coat-of-arms in the centre.